The University of the Fraser Valley men’s basketball team split a weekend series in Victoria.
The Cascades led off the back-to-back with a win Friday night, taking a 79-70 decision over the U-Vic Vikes.
UFV came out strong defensively, holding the Victoria Vikes to 16 first quarter points. The Cascade shooters found their range in the second quarter. Abbotsford natives Sheldon Bjorgaard and Jordan Blackman hit key baskets to erase a nine point deficit. Joel Friesen (Abbotsford) capped an 11 point run with a three pointer from the corner, and UFV and U-Vic were tied 34-34 at the half.
The Cascades led 54-52 after three quarters and led by as many as 10 points in the fourth quarter before settling for a nine point win.
“I Thought we played together for a long stretch of this game, and put together very close to 40 hard-played minutes,” said Cascades coach Barnaby Craddock. “We needed to do that versus a highly ranked Victoria team.”
UFV was led by Surrey native Kyle Grewal’s 18 point performance and six rebounds. Friesen added 17 points three boards and two assists. Coquitlam’s Sam Freeman scored 15 points with three assists and all nine Cascades scored at least two points in the team’s most well-balanced effort of the season.
— The good vibes disappeared in the Saturday rematch, won 91-67 by the Vikes.
UFV fell behind early and never recovered. U-Vic established a double digit lead and held an 18 point advantage at halftime.
“We were outplayed from start to finish this evening and we struggled to find any kind of mental focus for more than the briefest moments,” Craddock commented. “It was definitely a disappointing performance after playing with such cohesion the night before.”
Grewal led the Cascades again with 21 points and eight rebounds. Friesen added 13 points.
UFV’s Canada West west division record fell to 7-5, good for third place.
U-Vic improved to 10-2.
